Trinity Site to open on Saturday

The southern New Mexico location of the detonation of the world's first atomic bomb will open to the public on Saturday. The White Sands Missile Range opens Trinity Site twice a year, including each first Saturday of October. The world's first nuclear explosion took place at 5:29 a.m. on July 16, 1945.

The open house is free. Visitors can walk a quarter of a mile to ground zero where a small obelisk marks the location where the bomb was exploded. Historical photos are mounted on the fence surrounding the area.

Visitors also can ride a missile range shuttle bus two miles to the Schmidt/McDonald ranch house where scientists assembled the plutonium core of the bomb.

To get to Trinity Site, enter the White Sands Missile Range at its Stallion Range gate. The gate is about five miles south of U.S. Highway 380, on New Mexico Highway 525. The turnoff onto Highway 525 is 53 miles west of Carrizozo. The Stallion Range gate will be open during the free event from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visitors arriving at the gate will receive handouts and will be allowed to drive unescorted on a paved road to the 17 miles to the Trinity Site.

Another way to get to the open house is to drive with a caravan from Tularosa through the missile range. The caravan forms at Tularosa High School's football field parking lot and departs at 8 a.m. It is a 75-mile drive from Tularosa to Trinity Site and there are no gas stations along the route or at the site. The caravan is led by military police once it enters the White Sands Missile Range.

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It is scheduled to leave for the return trip between 12:30 and 1 p.m.

All adults must show a photo ID. All vehicles are subject to search and should be carrying proof of insurance and current registration. No weapons of any type are allowed on the federal property.

In deciding whether to visit ground zero, the following information from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the American Nuclear Society may be helpful.

Radiation levels in the ground zero area are low. On an average the levels are 10 times greater than the region's natural background radiation. A one-hour visit to the inner fenced area will result in a whole body exposure of one-half to one millirem. To put that in perspective, a U.S. adult receives, on average, 360 millirems every year from natural and medical sources.

Although radiation levels are low at Trinity Site, some feel any extra exposure should be avoided.